[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback instead[phpBB Debug] PHP Warning: in file [ROOT]/includes/bbcode.php on line 483: preg_replace(): The /e modifier is no longer supported, use preg_replace_callback insteadWhat Made You Want To Become A Writer? : Conversation question • Page 5 • Writing Forum | WritersDigest.com

Well i'm a huge fan of star wars and i always wanted to create my own cool universe that was like star wars, but at the same time original. At first, the way i was going to accomplish that was by making video games, but then i realized i had no skill for that. Then i discovered i enjoyed writing and figured i should stick with that. Though, writing at the moment is somewhat difficult for me.

I don't know What, in particular, made me want to be writer. I guess I have always read too much, and I could not stand not reading stories because they have not been written.In the deep of myself, I always knew I would write at the end

“Substitute 'damn' every time you're inclined to write 'very;' your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.” ― Mark Twain

Just felt like I had something important to say. I started off very angsty, leaving my writing to reflect that without knowing so.. I didn't have a very controlled voice while writing, so my thoughts just came out verbatim. Since then, as I have gained control and patience, I have learned the art of using my writing as the muse for my soul, and have calmed down what I put down in writing. Though I still am angsty with a pen in my hand or a keyboard underneath my fingers, I have learned to be poised with my medium in order to put into better words what I am feeling.

I feel that most of us writers get into the field because we have something important to say, or we need an outlet, or we look forward to the money that can come from writing (all of which are legitimate reasons, though the money reason will quickly die out, I believe, in a writer whose sole reason for writing is simply the money- either that, or they will discover a deeper reason for writing, for I believe to touch ones soul through self-expression truly reveals an extremely personal connection with the self which can not be ignored).

I have discovered writing and spreading my message to be a major purpose of my life- one that can help others if I promote it properly, and one that can guide not only the reader to more intimately discover their own purpose, but that can guide me to better understanding myself and life itself.

So truly, what I get from writing these days- as well as what I put into my craft- is much more than spewing empty words because they sound cool, but, rather, a true sense of fulfilling my purpose as a living being. Everyone has the perfect outlet through which to spread their love, and I have discovered that writing is mine, and so I stick closely to it.

(Great topic, by the way! I am very curious to read through this thread and learn how common my reasons are amongst other writers!)

I always received good grades in my language and literature classes in school, so it came natural when I sat down to express myself to (the world that I was writing for, including myself). When I shared my writing with my mother for the first time (and every other time), she got all serious, and has since been pressuring me to publish and write under the premise that I needed to get my message out into the world, and that I could make money doing so as well (and when my mother pressures me to do something, I know that it is something I do well, because she doesn't like me wasting my time )

To be sincere, I always wanted to be a writer because I wanted to read stories that haven't be written before. Since I was a child, but I usually disappointed myself by being too young and never finish what I've started. I started writing again a few years ago and now I write more than ever. I feel good with it and makes me happy. I don't want to make a living out of it, I want to it to remain a hobby: Something I do for myself every day.

I don't know if I'm skilled. I've always been really shy about it, and I never let other people read my work. It was my boyfriend who started reading them and told me he liked them. That gave me some self confidence to continue, but I don't think I'm a professional at all.

“Substitute 'damn' every time you're inclined to write 'very;' your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.” ― Mark Twain

Years ago when I did the music thing, it was because I wanted to hear something other than what was on the radio at the time. Same principle applies with writing. I want to read a story that is not on already a shelf somewhere.

For as long as I can remember, I've loved story in every form I could find it in. Books, comics, movies, music, art, even video games. I was a natural born escapist that preferred to dream things up in his mind than play outside. In a way, I grew older and not much has changed. Sure, I earned a degree I didn't care for and I earn a living with a normal job, but I haven't quite given up my ambition to a life that I walked into through convenience and a lack of other options. I've been a reader for far, far longer than I would call myself a writer. I saw a video of Stephen King on a podium addressing a crowd of writers telling his story of how he became a writer. He said he reached a point where he would read Bestselling novels and say something like "I can write better than this." That resonated with me and is pretty much the spark that lit the fire.

Other than that, writing gives me an excuse to keep living in my head.

Some of the best books were written in prison, but even when I was sent to my room, I didn’t write.

I was an artist, and I could draw like the best of them—Michelangelo, Da Vinci—you name it. My mother thought I would turn out to be an imagineer for Walt Disney, but my father thought I should take a more practical route—“architectural engineering”.

My father drafted me into college where I picked not art or "architectural engineering" but physics, but what happened in college no one saw coming—not even me!

Blame it on those mandatory English requirements. I signed up for Prep English and discovered, hey! I could write!—and I enjoyed it! I gladly traded in my scientific calculator for a manual typewriter.

Although I aced Prep English, it was not enough for the journey I was about to embark on—writing the Great American Novel—I knew almost nothing about story structure.

Was it a game changer? Did I run back to physics? Did I raid book stores and libraries, reading everything I could get my hands on? None of the above. What I did do was write. I focused on the Great American Novel.

In what some might think of as solitary confinement in an uninsulated, unfinished attic or in the back of a garage, I wrote.

Although I fell short of the Great American Novel - like really short with only short stories to show for it—I began to understand story structure.

After eight long years of college and what some might add only an associate degree in general studies to show for it from Butler County Community College, what I eventually wrote was the Great American “Short” Novel with "Jamaican Moon".

I wrote two more short novels - "Bad Blood" and "Condo Joe". I put them with "Jamaican Moon" in a collection called “Three by the Sea”, which I published through a POD publisher. Not exactly what I wanted in a publisher, but they did claim to reject manuscripts.

Rita, a very good friend of mine from Trinidad, read it and wrote an Amazon review:

“I couldn’t wait any longer,”, “so I bought the book off the Internet—cost me a big $18, shipping, etc., but it was worth every penny. A good book, kept my interest to the end.”

You would have thought a compliment like that shot me to the moon, right? I did not.

I went to thank Rita who took her thoughts about “Three by the Sea” further, suggesting that I write for television for series like CSI, but I was still dead set on writing that Great American Novel, damn it! It was the Great American Novel or nothing!

I do not know where it came from but next I wrote “Finny the Friendly Shark” - a children’s book about a shark who did not have the heart to bite. I then decided to apply to the Institute of Children’s Literature in Connecticut—not because I wanted to broaden my book-writing horizons. I thought it might be an angle into authorship big time—NYC-style. I studied under the children’s author Stephen Roos. I graduated with a certificate, but it didn’t help me break in.

I spent the next couple of years, you guessed it, chasing the Great American Novel until one morning, I tried writing something completely different, something I had not tried—a script—not a script for television, mind you, no, it had to be a feature script.

Moments into the pursuit I stopped. Had I become discouraged? Quite the contrary. I was overjoyed! I had discovered screenwriting. I mean do not get me wrong. I had a lot to learn about screenwriting—boy did I have a lot to learn—but it screenwriting seemed to be for me! I proceeded to type.

I completed the script “Forbidden” then dug into the next one without the aid of any screenwriting software like Final Draft or any familiarity with the Three-act Structure.I completed the second script “This Ain’t No Vacation, Sweetheart” and this would be the script I would get acquainted with the Three-act Structure.

Who knows? Maybe my friend from Trinidad my guardian angel had finally gotten through to me. It did not take a calling—not for this hard head—it took a shouting!

I wanted to race in my car to New York Film Academy to study screenwriting, but film school was not in the budget, so I went another route courtesy of the “St. Elmo’s Fire” screenwriter Karl Kurlander.

It may not work for others, but what I’ve come to call “poor man’s film school” worked for me. After meeting and talking briefly with Mr. Kurlander he suggested that I send a script to his friend who performed script coverage then in his parting words he said point blank, "It [the script] better be great."

I was not familiar with script coverage, but I listened and sent the script with a check to Mr. Kurlander's friend, and in a few days he returned the script. Read. A Pass. Although to be honest, if the script had been edited with a red pen, it would have resembled a particle map, somewhere in the pages of a bad first draft was a story worth telling.

Call it a labor of love. I bought the text book “Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting” by Syd Field and yes, Final Draft then I dove right into the rewrites from the bitter-sweet notes of the coverage report then went with a coverage company easier on the pocket book—Screenplay Readers.

I finished the next draft. I sent the script to Screenplay Readers. They read it and returned it promptly. A Pass. More notes but he script was getting better.

Three to four drafts and $500 later, “This Ain’t No Vacation, Sweetheart” got the rating “Consider” from Screenplay Readers! That Consider might as well have been an Oscar for best script to me. I had learned screenwriting, well, the basics.

The next script I would write would be an adaptation of “Finny the Friendly Shark” and after several drafts “Finny” also got a Consider from Screenplay Readers.

Since 2008, I have written 24 spec scripts. 24 scripts! Gladly I have abandoned all thoughts of writing the Great American Novel. What I am focused on is writing the Great American Script, and even though it seems I have put enough of the hard work in to be almost in auto-pilot with structure while I am trying to extract a story from my mind onto the page or “bending a spoon with my mind” each script presents its own set of challenges, and each script and story is different from the next. What I thought would be a career in writing feature romantic comedies shifts from time to time to action and adventure features. The genre seems to choose me.

As for the short novels I have written, all will not be lost, forgotten or wasted. One by one I am adapting them to scripts. "Jamaican Moon", "Indiana Jane" and "Dose of Her Own Medicine" are already in first draft form. "Condo Joe", "The Flip" and "The Hula Girl's Son" will follow—and I might add—I think the script adaptation are much better - but do not let that discourage you from buying them.

When I am not screenwriting, for fun I like to play league bocce and make amateur woodworking videos for YouTube.